


No Free Lunch

by thealphagate_archivist



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Angst, Character Study, Friendship, Humor, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-08-04
Updated: 2008-08-04
Packaged: 2019-02-02 07:45:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12722463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thealphagate_archivist/pseuds/thealphagate_archivist
Summary: It's a team thing.





	No Free Lunch

**Author's Note:**

> Note from the archivists: this story was originally archived at [The Alpha Gate](https://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Alpha_Gate), a Stargate SG-1 archive, which began migration to the AO3 in 2017 when its hosting software, eFiction, was no longer receiving support. To preserve the archive, we began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in November 2017. We e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are this creator and it hasn't transferred to your AO3 account, please contact us using the e-mail address on [The Alpha Gate collection profile](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/thealphagate).
> 
>  **Author's notes:** My grateful thanks to Devra who teaches me so much.
> 
> Feedback is always welcome!

“O'Neill set me up,” Cam whispered, crouching behind a boulder and looking into the cave beyond. He panned his weapon around slowly using the light on the scope to check for any threats in the darkness. “Definitely a set up.”

“What?” Sam asked. Her head felt too heavy; she was beyond dizzy and her arm hung limp by her side. The explosion which had cut them off from Daniel and Teal'c had thrown her against a wall. Her double vision and side order of nausea told her she probably had a concussion. The fact that she couldn't use her left arm told her she'd dislocated her shoulder. Both meant that she couldn't hold her P-90. She fumbled to free her sidearm. If there was an enemy nearby, she wasn't going to be much help in defending against them.

“O'Neill told me that SG-1 was mine and then didn't leave me an SG-1,” Cam said. “You guys are just here on loan until you can get back to whatever it was you were doing before. We're not the real SG-1.”

“What?” It seemed an odd time to be worrying about whether or not the four of them (or five of them, depending on how you did the math) were the “real” SG-1. She and Cam were trapped in a cave, in a space no larger than the briefing room and with not nearly as nice a view. Now definitely wasn’t the time to be worried about semantics.

“We're clear.” Cam lowered his weapon and pushed himself away from the wall. He pulled out a small flashlight and squatted beside Sam to check out her injuries. “We must’ve tripped a booby trap of some kind.” They'd gone in first, he and Sam, while Teal'c checked out the perimeter and Daniel unpacked his camera. The next thing they knew the entryway was covered in a pile of fallen rock.

“A booby trap.” She gasped as Cam probed the bump on the back of her head. “Are Teal'c and Daniel okay?”

“They were behind us but I don't think they were close enough to...” He looked at Sam and keyed the mic on the radio. “Jackson? Teal'c? You guys okay?”

“Mitchell? You... okay?” Daniel's voice cut in and out. “What the hell ...pened? Are you guys okay? Where's Sam? Is she--”

“Whoa! Slow down,” Cam said cutting Daniel off. “We're both here. Sam's a little spacey at the moment and she's not going to be playing the guitar anytime soon, but we're both in one piece. Is Teal'c with you?”

“Sam? Sam.... you okay?”

“Hey, Daniel.” She used her good hand to key Cam's mic. Her radio had quit working about the same time as her shoulder. “I'm fine. I think I dislocated my shoulder.”

“Yep, she did,” Cam said. “Looks like she's got a bump on her head, too.”

“Mitchell? What... you?”

“I'm fine. Cuts and bruises. Sam's the one we need to get out of here.”

“...entrance is covered in.... How... air supply?”

“Good so far. It's going to take a while for the dust to settle though.” Cam coughed, the dust irritating his throat. 

“There's no air movement in here, Daniel. It's hard to tell but I think we're fine for a few hours.”

“Teal'c should be back by.... That's... that's six hours. You... going to be... until then?”

“I don't think we have a choice, do we?” Cam panned his light around the cavern. Lots of rocks. Especially in front of them blocking the way out.

“Mitchell, look... Sam. Make sure she... down and takes it easy.” Daniel's voice sounded strained. 

“Tell her to lie down and take it easy?” Cam stared at the radio. “Do you know this woman, Jackson?”

“Tell her... use...” there was a grunt and the crackle of static. “Tell her it'll use less air.”

“Less air, right,” he muttered. Again, Cam swept the flashlight along the length of their prison, shaking his head as the light bounced off the back wall. “It's a good thing I'm not claustrophobic.”

Sam grabbed the radio before Cam could move away from her. “What are you going to do, Daniel?” There was a pause long enough that she keyed the mic again. “Daniel?”

“I'm go... start digging you out,” Daniel said. The sound of falling rock filtered through the mic.

“Daniel, be careful,” Sam warned. “I don't think this pile is very stable."

oOo

“Take a couple more Advil.”

Cam's voice woke Sam from a light doze. “Have you heard from Daniel, yet?” She reached for the blurry hand in front of her to take the pills. A canteen of water appeared a second later.

“How long?”

“You?” Cam steadied the canteen in front of her. “You’ve been in and out for about an hour.”

“Daniel?”

“Still nothing, Sam. I’ve checked every fifteen minutes. He’s not out there. He probably went back to the 'gate to wait for Teal'c.”

The last transmission they'd had from Daniel, he'd been trying to gage the depth of the rock pile sealing them in. He started to say, “I think I can pull--” and the transmission cut off. That was more than three hours ago. They hadn't heard anything since despite repeated hails. Cam didn't buy Sam's explanation of mechanical failure and he certainly wasn't going to say that Jackson was buried under the pile of rock in front of them. 

“No.” She swallowed enough water to wash down the pills and coughed as they went down the wrong way. She tried again. “No, he's still around.”

Cam refused to answer. Instead he checked the sling holding her arm, not looking her in the eye.

“Daniel's still out there,” Sam insisted, sighing when she didn't get a response. “Why did you wake me? I was using less air asleep.” She didn't add that she was in less pain asleep but Cam knew that too.

He crouched beside her and fiddled with the flashlight for a minute before he answered. “The air's starting to thin. I'm lightheaded and it's getting hard to breathe. You said you wanted to know.” He still didn't look at her.

“You sure?” She knew he was sure; he wouldn't have said it if he wasn't, but she had to ask.

“Sure.”

She cleared her throat to keep her voice steady. “How long?”

He understood her question. “According to what Jackson said, Teal'c's not due back for another two hours. After that the rescue team will need to...” He didn't finish. “So... I'm wondering how long I wait to say, 'It's been an honor--'”

“Not now—not today,” Sam snapped. “Daniel is still out there, Cam, and we are going to get out of this.”

“Is that an SG-1 thing,” he asked bitterly, “that you guys always come back alive? I've probably screwed up the karma being here.”

Sam regretted her temper. Cam couldn't help being worried. Hell, she was worried. “We don't always come back alive,” she said, “but we always end up alive—especially in Daniel's case—and it's not going to change now.”

Despite the situation, Cam laughed. He'd read the reports and believed about half of them. Daniel Jackson, “the comeback kid,” and the rest of the team not far behind. “So no gallant last words just yet?”

“Not yet.”

“You'll let me know, though, before we run out of air?” Cam asked. “I'd hate to have a chance to do the gallant last words thing and miss it.”

“The only last words you'll be saying are, 'I'm buying you guys lunch.' Trust me on this.” Sam put all the confidence she could into the words and then prayed it wasn't a lie.

“Lunch?” he asked sliding to the floor to sit beside her.

“Team lunch,” Sam said leaning in close.

“Team lunch?”

“You, me, Daniel, Teal'c and Vala.”

“And I'm buying?”

“You're buying,” Sam said, her words slurring a little.

“Did General O'Neill do that,” Cam asked, “buy everyone lunch?'

“Not if he could foist it off on someone else.”

They sat shoulder to shoulder. Cam was right. The air was getting thinner, each breath more and more difficult to take. With Teal'c still two hours away Sam wondered if maybe she should think of some gallant last words of her own before the end came. Maybe she should write General O'Neill and tell him he still owed them lunch. Maybe she should write something down for Daniel and Teal'c to tell them it wasn't their fault and that it had been an honor and a privilege serving with them. Maybe she should be honest and say it had been her whole life serving with all of them.

She felt Cam slump beside her. “We just have to wait a little long--” she started.

The rocks near the ceiling moved. They could hear the clatter of stone on stone as chunks toppled down to fall at their feet. Cam hoisted himself up and stepped in front of her, weaving a little but still pulling his weapon to his chest, waiting.

“Cam, it's Daniel,” Sam said in exasperation.

“Jackson didn't move all that rock by himself,” Cam scoffed. “There's no way. It's probably a wild animal trying to get back into its den. Or it's whoever set up the trap coming back get us. I just hope Jackson took cover before they got here—or that he's through the 'gate and back at the SGC.”

“Cam, you don't understand--”

“Hey, guys, you in there?”

Sam could feel the cool air. She blinked as a faint crack of light started at the roof of the cave and grew bigger. Outside it was almost dark, the sky a deep cloudy blue, but the light streaming in looked like the most beautiful sunrise Sam had ever seen. “Daniel?”

“Yeah, sorry for not being in touch...”

She heard a curse and the crunch of falling stone before the crack of light turned into a broad strip and Daniel stuck his head through. With the light came a rush of fresh air. Wonderful fresh air. She inhaled deeply.

“I slipped and broke my radio.” Daniel said as he continued to throw rocks behind him, enlarging the hole. “I figured Teal'c and SG-6 should be about an hour away but I'm not sure about that because my watch is shot. But anyway, they'll have this rubble cleared out in no time and we'll get you home.” He sounded tired. His glasses were gone, and his face, even shadowed against the opening, was almost black with dirt and sweat. He must have worked for hours, moving a mountain stone by stone with his bare hands to open up an airway for them. “You guys okay?” he asked leaning in.

“We are now,” Sam said in delight before she turned to glare at Cam.

Mitchell let his weapon drop and leaned back against the wall, staring in disbelief at the figure outlined at the top of the rubble. “Well, hello Sunshine.”

oOo

“I'm only losing because I'm still seeing two of everything,” Sam said.

Mitchell stood in the doorway and listened. Daniel sat on Sam's infirmary bed, one leg pulled up underneath him, his index finger resting on a black rook. The baby finger of that hand, broken sometime during the mission was taped to his ring finger to keep it immobile, the white tape standing out against the black chess piece.

“You're supposed to be seeing two, Sam,” Daniel said. “Two rooks, two bishops, two knights--”

Sam laughed. “That's not what I meant, Daniel, and you know it.”

“I also know that you haven't been seeing double of anything since last night. At least that's what you told Doctor. Peterson.” He peered at her over his glasses. “Right?”

“Okay, I'm busted,” Sam said with a sigh.

“You're busted because you're still seeing double,” Daniel asked in concern, “or you're busted because you're not seeing double and you're still losing?”

“I haven't lost,” Sam muttered. “At least not yet.”

Daniel smiled and turned his attention back to the rook under his finger.

Mitchell watched as the two heads came together over the small chess board. 

“So how's everybody doing?” he asked as he pushed off from the door frame and entered the room.

“Hey, Cam.” Sam looked up for a minute before she went back to finding her next move. “I'll be better when Doctor Lam and her minions decide to let me go home.”

“Can't go home if you're seeing double,” Cam said.

“I'm not seeing double,” Sam assured him.

Daniel snorted. “That's not what I heard,” he said and finally moved his rook. He took her bishop with a flourish. “Now you'll only being seeing one of those.”

“How about you, Jackson, how are you doing?” Cam asked.

Daniel turned around to reveal a piece of gauze taped over most of the twelve stitches that ran from his forehead down the side of his face. That streak of dirt they'd noticed when Daniel had stuck his head through the opening wasn't dirt at all but a deep cut running from the hairline and around the right eye. The eye itself was black and blue.

“Headache gone?” Cam stood over the board thinking that Sam had about two moves left before she was done.

“I'm fine,” Daniel said dismissively. He watched Sam finger her last bishop. “I wouldn't do that if I were you,” he told her.

 

“You're fine, are you?” Cam said, still standing by the bed. He watched as Sam's finger moved from the bishop to the queen. To himself he thought that was a much better move. From Daniel's smile, he agreed.

“Why do I always feel like you're trying to trick me,” Sam said with narrowed eyes.

“Because I like to win?” Daniel asked innocently.

“No, he's right, Sam,” Cam said. “That's a better move.”

“Better enough that I'm going to win?” she asked. “Or just better enough to prolong the agony. Are you on his side?”

“Nope, just an innocent bystander.”

She continued to stare at the board. After a few minutes in which everyone quietly studied the board, she said, “I'm done aren't I?”

Cam gave it one last look. “I'd bow out gracefully if I were you.”

With a flick of her finger, Sam toppled her king.

“Sorry. You're probably not playing your best right now.” Daniel tried to sound sympathetic—and failed.

“You are not sorry.” Sam started resetting the pieces on the board for another game.

“You're right,” Daniel said. “I'm not. You want a rematch later on?”

“This afternoon, after lunch. And this time I won't go so easy on you.” When she poked him in the chest with her finger, he mouthed an “ow” and rubbed the spot softly.

“Yeah, about that,” Cam said jumping in. “You guys about ready for lunch?”

Daniel shrugged. “I could do lunch. What do you think, Sam? Can you leave long enough to get some bad cafeteria food?”

“Let's go,” she said swinging her legs over the side of the bed, “before they bring my tray and I have to eat whatever that stuff is.”

“I asked Teal'c and Vala to meet us there,” Cam said as he passed Sam her robe.

She slipped it on one arm as Cam carefully draped the other side over the arm with the sling. She hooked her good arm through Daniel's for support. “Vala's back? You didn't tell me Vala was back.”

“I'm trying to pretend she's not here. I haven't been to my office all day.”

“I'll bet that's working.” Sam laughed at Daniel scanning the hallway warily.

“Don't worry. You're safe, at least until we get to the mess,” Cam assured him. “Besides, Vala missed us while we were gone. She wanted to know why we went and had all this fun without her.”

“Fun?” Daniel sputtered. “Fun? You guys almost suffocated and died.”

“Not a chance, Jackson. I knew all along we'd get out in time.” He looked at Sam who raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. “It's an SG-1 thing. Right?”

“So I've heard.” She looked up at Daniel who gave her arm a squeeze.

“So, who's buying today?” Daniel asked as they cleared the infirmary door.

“Cam is, of course. The team leader always buys the team lunches. Right, Daniel?”

“Of course,” Daniel agreed. “Why did we never tell Jack that?”

“We never got around to it,” Sam told him. “But we'll make sure we break the new guy in right.”

Cam walked behind them with his hands in his pockets. “Why do I feel like I've been had?” he said with a shake of his head.

She looked over her shoulder, grinning. “Don't worry about it, Cam. It's a team thing.”

Finis!


End file.
